UPDATE: It's been a while since I did an update on my condition/s so here goes.

Off the methotrexate since November 4, 2016 and had a Dr appointment in mid November and he wasn't happy when I told him I wasn't going to take that stuff anymore. He said that it would take 2 to 3 months for the stuff to exit my system and he was wrong as my hair didn't stop falling out until some time in late March or early April of this year. The swelling in joints in my hands is back, BUT, it's not as bad as before and at this point I can manage that with the occasional NSAID.

In December I started having some serious problems with my lower back. Went to the Dr and got Xrays that I posted earlier this year and it wasn't pretty. Dr scheduled me for 5 weeks of Physical Therapy which I will finally finish today.

Meanwhile, in January I found out that I have a bacterial infection and went through 5 weeks of high power antibiotics to clear that up. Still have some lingering symptoms from that but after seeing a Urologist about it and getting the "OK", nothing wrong from him I guess I'll just have to live with it.

So now I've got to make another appointment with the back Dr to see where we go from here. Not sure what if anything can be done with it but hopefully I'll know something on that within the next month or so.

And on another note, the Medicare part B supplement insurance my Wife and I had got canceled and I've had to shop for another one. Turns out that insurance companies don't like the fact that I have Lupus so they are going to soak it to me and now my insurance will be going up almost $450 more per year??? That and Humana forked me on my Part D drug insurance when they lowered the premium $2 a month and then increased the deductible $50?? WTF?? All while I got a .3% increase in my Social Security check?

Ennywho, the good news is I feel pretty good most days and I'm still able to do for myself and that means a lot.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

My be-loved, "wood-hippie", buddy Doc keeps hammering into me that a bunch of shit that is actually killing us is no more than bacterial waste infections that go untreated. Dose yourself with massive amounts of say Tetracycline for starters to see if it helps?

UPDATE: Turns out that I had a prostate infection that everybody missed, and that even after I carried the GP Dr I see a semen sample way back in February?? WTF moment? Then the visit to that Urologist in April, which was a $350 charge to Medicare BTW, and he didn't find shit either because he basically didn't do any additional testing from what my GP had already done?

Got tired of the shit lingering on so the first week in August I refilled one of those antibiotics and took that for 10 days and at the end of that I wasn't any better. Went back to my GP bitching about feeling bad and he does a prostate massage then took a urine sample and BINGO, they found it and identified it as the prostate infection that I knew I had to begin with.

So a got a 21 day supply of another antibiotic and started that only to wind up with a rash broken out all over me on the 11th day of that?? Yup, another WTF moment for sure. So I'm now into my last week of another antibiotic and the symptoms have pretty much gone now.

And just think, it only took them about 6 months to figure this out??????

As for the Lupus and arthritis, I'm still not seeing a Rhumatologist and not taking any drugs specifically for those conditions!

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

The plan is to do as little as possible to keep us old MFer's alive so that we DIE early!!

Save's the Gov. a lot of TAXPAYERS money that they want to steal/waste, right?

pdq67

WRONG! Doctors don't make money off of DEAD PEOPLE so it's in THEIR best interest to keep you alive and coming back to them! In my case, they've made a pretty good chunk from Medicare and my Part B supplement over the past 2 years or so.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

Dr's are more in control on the "front line" though and the ones that I go to have figured out how to "use" that Medicare system to "their" and my benefit, ie, keeping me alive and coming back to them. Why do you think that Drs still take Medicare patients when the Govt dictates how much money they get for xx services? Like I said, they've learned to use the system.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

When the RA/Lupus stuff came along last year my Darling Wife and I made the decision to try treating it with diet along with the meds that the Rheumatologist was prescribing.

Part of that diet came from the Dr and other things came from searches on the internet. One of a couple of things that stood out was that dairy was mentioned in most all the articles we read. So dairy was one of the first things that I eliminated from my diet along with processed sugar. As I mentioned before, that was when I found out that I was lactose intolerant as some IBS that I had occasionally stopped when the milk with my cereal stopped.

Ennywho, having stopped ALL prescription meds last November I'm still doing OK without them and don't take even an NSAID but maybe twice a week and sometimes not at all.

So the Wife was looking at some more articles and found some things that might be of interest to those of you here who suffer with joint pain and before you start reading them please keep in mind that "You Are What You Eat!"

And a final note on the Meds and BTW I include "over the counter" drugs in this category also! EVERY drug contains some sort of poison to your system and over time they can often create problems with Kidneys, Liver and Lungs along with increased incidence of Heart disease. So doing without them now, if possible, may make a YUGE difference in your quality of life in later years.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

This past week the Wife and I did our "walk", ie, we do a 1.5 mile walk and we do it in less than 30 minutes when weather premits. We did that walk 4 out of the last 7 days. We've done this for the past 10 years and that is how I beat type II diabetes.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, British Prime-Minister (1759-1806)

I just got back from walking around the corner to the stop sign at the other corner. (11:00 PM-ish). Took my cane along.

I told a bunch in our neighborhood not to get upset if they saw some fool out walking say, at midnight , then 2:00, then 3:30 and maybe 5:00 am because it was me.

They looked at me and saw me gimping along and said, I was their late night neighborhood watch and I just laughed. In talking, it's amazing how many people have had hip/knee stuff done to them and they all understand the walking stuff.

Great neighborhood and the more I walk, the better I'm feeling/healing!